‘At the doorsteps of Montage’

Hotel offers ‘sense of place’

March 21, 2014

KAPALUA - While the time-share Residences at Kapalua Bay has not quite switched to its new namesake and hotel combination, a select few guests got a "sneak peek" of the West Maui property scheduled to open June 1.

"This is clearly an extraordinarily special place," Richard Holtzman, vice president and managing director, said Thursday afternoon as he gestured out from the lanai of one of the residences.

Article Photos

Richard Holtzman, vice president and managing director of Montage Kapalua, speaks to a select group of guests Thursday afternoon as part of a sneak peek of the West Maui hotel and resort.The Maui News CHRIS SUGIDONO photo

Montage Kapalua includes 56 residences, ranging from three to four bedrooms and 2,800 to 4,200 square feet. The resort also includes 50 hotel suites, a new restaurant and a bar. All residences have double-head showers in the master bathrooms and all four-bedroom residences are oceanfront.The Maui News CHRIS SUGIDONO photo

Plans call for hiring 130 workers next month for the Montage Kapalua Bay, which began its $15 million construction about a month ago to convert the time-share complex into a 56-residence and 50-room, all-suite Montage hotel.

The residences range from three to four bedrooms and 2,800 to 4,200 square feet. All residences have double-head showers in the master bathrooms, and all four-bedroom residences are oceanfront.

The suites are old converted residences. They range from one to three bedrooms with full kitchens and large lanais. The project includes a restaurant, bar, and small convenience store, Mahana Market, that opened last month.

"We're going to do our very best to earn the right to call this place home," Holtzman said to the guests.

Montage Hotels & Resorts, based in Laguna Beach, Calif., was selected to manage the property by Lantern Asset Management for the owners Island Acquisitions Kapalua LLC, a company spokesperson said. Island Acquisitions Kapalua won an auction for the property following a bankruptcy proceeding completed last year.

"I know what you'll find with every Montage Hotel is a sense of place," resort Manager David Hoffman said of the company that has locations in Beverly Hills, Calif., and Park City, Utah. "What we found here is a sense of place that is above and beyond any place we've experienced so far. The culture of Hawaii is so important to us."

The sense of culture on the islands led to the restaurant's name, Cane & Canoe, which derives from the importance of the land and the sea. The bar and lounge area will complement the restaurant.

The structure of the restaurant, which will be located directly in front of the opening walkway to the hotel, has not been erected yet. Hoffman said that although the construction noise makes for a "tough situation for guests and associates," workers are handling it well and "being leaders of the hotel."

"Construction is never fun, but if you're going to do it, why not do it in Hawaii," he said. "But we're continuing on because the important thing about construction and noise is you know what's at the end. If you don't hear any construction going on then there's no end in sight."

The hotel's location has come a long way since it began as Kapalua Bay Hotel, which opened in 1978 and was razed in 2004, Holtzman said. The Ritz Carlton Residences briefly took control from 2009 to 2012 but was phased out due to the economic downturn, and its name was changed to its current one.

"Now, we're at the doorsteps of Montage," he said.

The hotel is planning to hold a job fair on April 2 and 3 to hire 130 workers to fill positions in management, housekeeping, and food and beverage.

Christine Williams, director of finance, said most of the positions will be in the food and beverage department. The hotel is still looking for an executive chef and is adding in-room dining, she said.

"We see a lot of hotels converting into time shares and cutting staff, but we're going the complete opposite direction," she said.

Alyssa Bushey, corporate director of communications and strategic alliances, said furniture for the restaurant has begun to arrive, and the menus are being conceptualized. She added that the Kapalua Spa, which accompanied the Residences at Kapalua Bay, has been rebranded as Spa Montage and has undergone minor enhancements.

Pricing for the residences is expected to be completed in the next two weeks and reach the market by the end of next month, hotel officials said. Suites start in the $700s depending on season.

Hoffman, who has been with Montage since it opened its flagship hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif., 11 years ago, said it's been a dream of company founder and Chief Executive Officer Alan Fuerstman to open a hotel in Hawaii, and that he "couldn't have asked for a better one" on Maui.

"People are excited," he said. "We have have a large contingency of owners here who are very special to us and part of our family because they live here and own here and they're excited. We've had an overwhelming positive reaction with where we're going and what we're doing."